


Afternoon Nap

by kibasniper



Category: Psychonauts (Video Games)
Genre: Banter, Crushes, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Guitars, Napping, Nature, Pre-Canon, Teasing, Watching Someone Sleep, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29285343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibasniper/pseuds/kibasniper
Summary: Chops finds Lili at his usual spot, but as he makes his way over to her, she slowly collapses.
Relationships: Melvin "Chops" Sweetwind/Lili Zanotto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Afternoon Nap

**Author's Note:**

> i was stuck writing prompt 8 for femslash february, so i banged this out instead! it would've been in psi snippets, but shrug, shrug, i figured i'd post this by itself and give some individual love for the pairing! they're sweet. c:

He spotted Lili taking his usual spot ahead on the trail.

Chops wasn’t annoyed by the other camper, not at all. It wasn’t like he owned the tree stump on the well-tread path. He certainly didn’t carve his name on it, either. Getting upset because someone happened to arrive first was not any reason to throw a fit, something other PSI cadets should have learned.

But as he approached, his eyes widened. He watched Lili’s head tilt to the side. Her arms slackened, and her hands hit the curved ridge. Her body slumped over, her knees and legs twisting to the side, and he heard the side of her head lightly _thunk_ against the smooth wood as he hurried over.

Chops skidded to a stop in front of her. He kicked up dirt and pebbles, scuffing the tips of his shoes. He furrowed his brows, setting his guitar on the grass and approaching her.

“Lili?” he called, reaching for her shoulder.

As he expected, she didn’t answer. He stared at the slow rise and fall of her chest. When he leaned closer, he noticed her eyes beginning to move behind her eyelids. Her mouth twitched upwards for the briefest of seconds, and Chops quickly understood what had happened.

 _Oh, she fell asleep,_ he thought, his shoulders sagging. He puffed out a sigh. _Man, warn a guy before passing out, eh?_

He collected his guitar and sat on the other side of the stump. His back was to her, and he crossed his legs. Setting his guitar on his knee, Chops peered over his shoulder, spotting Lili’s neck bent at an awkward angle. Other than that, she seemed perfectly fine.

 _She’s definitely gonna have a crick in her neck when she wakes up,_ he thought, tuning his guitar. 

He set his fingers along the strings of the neck, but just as he was about to start strumming, he hesitated. If he started playing, then Lili would wake up. She’d probably be startled by the sudden noise, gasping and rolling right off the stump, her face planting into the ground.

Chops hummed to himself. It was a predicament he created for himself. While he wanted to play, jarring Lili awake was unconscionable. Shrugging, he placed his guitar on the ground and swiveled around to face her. He tucked his legs to his chest, wrapping an arm around his knees to steady himself, and he cocked his head at her.

Lili wasn’t the type of girl who napped. If she did, then she would have done it in her bunk or maybe in a flower patch somewhere in the far woods. But from what he knew about her, she stayed awake during the day and slept at night like most kids, except for the times when he spotted her leaving her cabin in the middle of the night, her purpose unknown to him.

What concerned him was how easily she fell asleep in the open. She must have been exhausted. If she couldn’t make the relatively short trip back to her cabin, then it ignited his concern. When he leaned over to examine her face, he found faintly dark rings underneath her eyes. He was reminded of an owl, her eyeshadow a similar shade to the rings and completing the circles.

“Lili?” he whispered to no answer.

Leaving her wouldn’t be right. She risked the chance of being discovered by the nastier kids. Bobby and Benny would have had a field day drawing on her face. Kitty and Franke would have had a golden opportunity to spread a rumor about her drooling. Since Kitty had managed to steal her camera back from the confiscated items suitcase in Cruller’s rundown trailer, she would more likely than not apply a doctored photograph to strengthen their claim.

She was his friend, and it wouldn’t sit well with him if left her behind. It was something JT seemed to have forgotten, but in the moment, he wasn’t concerned about him.

He peered at the sunlight filtering in through the tree branches. Robins sang overhead, and squirrels chattered as they scurried along their way. Fireflies floated around them, orange blinks of light that appeared and disappeared. The stream purled, occasionally hitting the sides of the dirt with a wet slap when the wind picked up. Leaves swirled in the air and drifted over the grass, occasionally floating downstream. Somewhere else, a camper laughed at the top of their lungs.

Chops grinned to himself and breathed in deeply. The wind carried a hint of sea salt from the lake. It had been a while since he enjoyed a spell of peace and quiet.

If Lili hadn’t fallen asleep in front of him, then he probably would have ignored it. When he practiced playing guitar, he often became too engrossed in perfecting his tune over basking in his surroundings. He smiled at Lili, admiring how the sunlight fell on her cheeks, illuminating a speckle of freckles by her jaw that he had never noticed before. Up close, she was prettier than he expected, although a quieter part of him acknowledged she was fetching at any angle.

Lili’s eyes snapped open. Chops pursed his lips, frozen. He scratched through his scalp, Lili pushing herself upright and cracking her neck. They stared at each other, a wordless, strange calm passing over them.

Chops coughed into his fist, sounding like he was clearing out a frog in his throat. “Uh, good afternoon, sleeping beauty,” he said, managing a half-smile. 

“Do you often watch girls while they sleep?” Lili demanded, raising an eyebrow. A note of accusation struck her words.

“Not usually. When they suddenly collapse right in front of me, I tend to stick around just in case,” he replied, rapping his knuckles on the trunk.

Lili’s eyes drifted to his hand. She gazed at the stump like she was seeing it for the first time. Sucking a breath, she made a noise of acknowledgement. Her cheeks reddened, reminding him of the color of her hair, and she toyed with the split ends on her pigtail.

“Oh. Right. I sat down, and I guess I just-” Lili gestured at the stump. “-you know.”

Chops nodded. “Exactly,” he said, bending over and grabbing his guitar. “So, why’d you fall asleep? You tired?”

She brushed off his concerns with a flick of her wrist. “It’s nothing. Just some weird dreams about meat flowers jarring me awake.”

Chops chuckled, the corner of his mouth quirking upwards. Meat flowers should have mystified him, but peculiar dreams were common psychic ailments. Poor Milka had a vision through a convulsive fit last night, so hearing Lili’s dreams contained meaty symbolism hardly surprised him. If he took anything away from his summers at Whispering Rock, then it was knowing his fellow PSI cadets had their own unfortunate idiosyncrasies.

“Definitely sounds weird,” he said, idly strumming his guitar. “Mind if I start playing? I’m a bit late for personal practice, and I don’t mind having an audience.” He tapped the side of the tree trunk. “Or do you wanna take another cat nap and dream about meat flowers again?”

“Hardy har har. Trust me. I’m good,” she dryly spat out, smirking. She crossed her arms and straightened her back. “Yeah, that’s cool. Go ahead and play, but you could’ve played this whole time.”

“If I did, then I’d wake you up, and that’d be plain rude,” he countered, striking his thumb along the strings, the sharp twang punctuating his statement. He laughed softly as she rolled her eyes. “I call this ditty ‘Tree Trunk Sleeper.’”

“That name sucks,” Lili said, smiling, and Chops matched her grin, playing just for her.


End file.
